I recently went on a field trip to various locations in Australia – we drove along much of the
Oodnadatta Track, which is 600 kilometres of unsealed road in South Australia. I stopped off
at Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, then went onto Alice Springs, the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park,
Lake Hart, the salt lakes at Murray-Sunset National Park and Kangaroo Island. Drawing and
painting along the way, and stopping off to visit friends and family.
At Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, we camped beside the lake, then took a plane flight over it. It is a
truly spectacular place to visit. The lake was full of water this year. According to the locals
that only happens once every fifty years. It is the traditional lands of the Arabana people, with
the eastern area having strong ties to the Dieri people. This was a place of immense peace,
although the history of the land is much more complicated.
Murray-Sunset National Park is the traditional Country of the Latji Latji, Ngintait and Nyeri
Nyeri Peoples. I return to this site often. Unbelievably hot this year —flies and mosquitos
were everywhere —but this place is full of beauty and I can’t keep away from it.
At Kangaroo Island we stayed with family and I spent time drawing and painting. It’s a wild
and windy place and each day the sky tells a dramatic story.
